BACKGROUND: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has become a major health problem globally, affecting patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a precancerous lesion associated with GERD. BE patients might not only suffer from HRQOL losses by GERD but also face psychological distress due to the increased risk of developing cancer. However, the majority of patients in Asia have shorter BE segment which is different from the West. This study aimed to determine whether the HRQOL in BE patients were worse than in healthy referents in Taiwan...

Cell transfer between mother and fetus were demonstrated previously in several species which possess haemochorial placenta (e.g. in humans, mice, rats, etc.). Here we report the assessment of fetal and maternal microchimerism in non-transgenic (non-TG) New Zealand white rabbits which were pregnant with transgenic (TG) fetuses and in non-TG newborns of TG does. The TG construct, including the Venus fluorophore cDNA driven by a ubiquitous cytomegalovirus enhancer, chicken ß-actin promoter (CAGGS), was previously integrated into the rabbit genome by Sleeping Beauty transposon system...

Disinfectants are chemical agents used to eradicate, deactivate or kill microorganisms. Chemical disinfectants especially chlorine compound are extensively used for water sanitization. Among these calcium hypochlorite and chloramines are commonly used now a day. Large number of chemical compounds, drugs and endogenous substances are metabolized by hepatic enzymes known as cytochrome P450 enzyme system. Many chemicals are capable of enzyme induction. Enzyme induction may change the metabolism of other drugs and endogenous substances which may alter the plasma concentration of these chemicals...

This study aimed to determine the long-term surgical outcome of pharmacoresistant epilepsy caused by focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) and to identify the important predictors of the favorable surgical outcome. The study retrospectively analyzed the data of pharmacoresistant epilepsy patients with histologically proven FCD in our epilepsy center from May 2010 to December 2014. It included 120 patients with a mean follow-up of 34.6 months. Survival analysis and multivariate regression with Cox proportional hazards model were used to evaluate the rate, stability, and predictors of seizure freedom...

PURPOSE: One likely cause of treatment failure in glioblastoma is the persistence of glioma stem-like cells (GSLCs), highly resistant to therapies currently employed. We found that CXCL12 has highest expression in glioma cells derived from neural progenitor cells (NPCs). The development and molecular signature of NPC-derived GBMs were analyzed and the therapeutic effect of blocking CXCL12 was tested. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Tumors were induced by injecting DNA into the lateral ventricle of neonatal mice, using the Sleeping Beauty transposase method...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Oxidative stress is proposed as a central mediator in NAFLD pathogenesis, but the specific trigger for reactive oxygen species generation has not been clearly delineated. In addition, emerging evidence shows that obesity related obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and nocturnal hypoxia are associated with NAFLD progression in adults. The aim of this study was to determine if OSA/nocturnal hypoxia-induced oxidative stress promotes the progression of pediatric NAFLD. METHODS: Subjects with biopsy proven NAFLD and lean controls were studied...

BACKGROUND: In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), occlusion of the upper airway by soft tissue causes intermittent hypoxemia and can have serious sequelae. A novel implantable medical device for OSA is composed of a linear silicone elastic element held in an extended state by a bioabsorbable external sheath. The implant is delivered to the tongue base or soft palate via a minimally invasive approach. Normal tissue healing anchors the device at the attachment points before the bioabsorbable material dissolves and the elastic element contracts to stabilize the surrounding tissue...

Several studies have shown the hepatoprotective effect of the consumption of coffee and tea, which is mainly attributed to caffeine. Many experimental studies have demonstrated this effect; however, these studies used high caffeine doses that are not related to human consumption. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of low doses of caffeine on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-treated rats. Low doses of caffeine (CAFF) 5 and 10 mg/kg (CAFF5 and CAFF10) were evaluated in chronic liver damage induced by CCl4 (0...

Chronic osteomyelitis of the jaws presents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. A 45-year-old woman presented with episodic pain in the right mandible of two and a half years' duration. During active periods, lasting for 2 to 3 weeks, the pain woke the patient from sleep at a regular time, and had features mimicking a variant of cluster headache. However, clinical, radiologic, and histologic findings confirmed the diagnosis of chronic sclerosing osteomyelitis. Conservative treatment, including 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics, relieved the pain with no signs of recurrence at the 1-year follow-up...

Hypertension is associated with cerebrovascular disease, white matter lesion and cognitive deficit, both in experimental models and clinical observations. Furthermore, in non-clinical models it is shown that hippocampus is affected by hypertension and hypoxia. Herein, two distinct hypertension models were used to study neurogenic response in hippocampus. Dahl salt sensitive (DSS) rat model is a genetic based idiopathic model, while chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) mimics the hypertension observed in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of laser irradiation with a novel snoring handpiece on the histological structures of the soft palate in a rat model. BACKGROUND: Snoring is a common problem and studies have shown that 20-50% of the population is affected. An apnea-hypopnea index of <5/h without daytime somnolence is documented as simple snoring. No snoring treatment should ever be attempted until a sleep study has been completed to rule out sleep apnea...

Rhythmic slow waves characterize brain electrical activity during natural deep sleep and under anesthesia, reflecting the synchronous membrane potential fluctuations of neurons in the thalamocortical network. Strong evidence indicates that the neocortex plays an important role in the generation of slow wave activity (SWA), however, contributions of individual cortical layers to the SWA generation are still unclear. The anatomically correct laminar profiles of SWA were revealed under ketamine/xylazine anesthesia, with combined local field potential recordings, multiple-unit activity (MUA), current source density (CSD) and time-frequency analyses precisely co-registered with histology...

Cerebral blood flow is associated with the cerebrovascular prognosis. Sleep restriction (SR) may be a limiting factor of the prognosis after a cerebrovascular event, impairing the neurological recovery. We aimed to investigate the effects of SR on mortality rate and on behavioral and histological parameters of animals submitted to permanent cerebral hypoperfusion. Sixty male Wistar rats were distributed in 4 groups, according to the protocol of common carotid artery occlusion (CCAO) and SR: nSR+nCCAO, SR+nCCAO, nSR+CCAO, and SR+CCAO...

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the most common malignant neoplasms worldwide and accounts for more deaths than any other cancer. The clinicopathological profile of lung cancer has shown marked regional and geographical variation. AIMS: We aimed to compare the demographic and pathological profile of lung cancer patients from North India with other Indian and International series. SETTING AND DESIGN: A retrospective study over a period of 5 years from January 2008 to May 2013 was conducted in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Disorders, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi...

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to map the in vivo human functional connectivity of several brainstem nuclei with the rest of the brain by using seed-based correlation of ultra-high magnetic field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the recently developed template of 11 brainstem nuclei derived from multi-contrast structural MRI at 7 Tesla as seed regions to determine their connectivity to the rest of the brain. To achieve this, we used the increased contrast-to-noise ratio of 7-Tesla fMRI compared with 3 Tesla and time-efficient simultaneous multi-slice imaging to cover the brain with high spatial resolution (1...

OBJECTIVE: To describe and compare sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) investigations among states participating in the SUID Case Registry from 2010 through 2012. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed observational data from 770 SUID cases identified and entered into the National Child Death Review Case Reporting System. We examined data on autopsy and death scene investigation (DSI) components, including key information about the infant sleep environment. We calculated the percentage of components that were complete, incomplete, and missing/unknown...